Therapeutic shoe



Aug. 26, 1969 A. L. MATLES THERAPEUTIC snos Filed June 9, 1967 INVENTOR ARTHUR L. MA 7155 By A I ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,463,164 THERAPEUTIC SHOE Arthur L. Matles, Manhattan, N.Y. (4 E. 78th St., New York, N.Y. 10021) Filed June 9, 1967, Ser. No. 644,924 Int. 'Cl. A43b 7/24; A61f 5/00 U.S. Cl. 128-583 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A therapeutic shoe for treatment of talipes for children, the shoe having a splint plate associated with the shoe, which, whether the child is on its back or on its stomach, urges the foot to a position determined by the front or rear edge of the splint plate, which position can be adjusted to meet changing conditions of therapy and to which plate difierent types of shoes may be attached.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to therapeutic shoes for treatment of talipes wherein the foot is urged to a position by the shoe to correct the abnormality and with which the correction may be varied if desired.

Description of the prior art In severe cases of talipes the shoes of the child may be clamped and held by metal clamps which permit only limited movement by the child, or no movement and with which predetermined angles of the feet are maintained.

In other children having external tibial torsion and increased external rotation of the hips, such children have in many instances not been treated, or if treated, after the use of casts, splints and braces to correct severe conditions, the correction was not maintained.

In addition the rigid clamping of the childs feet particularly while it is attempting to sleep can cause the child to have cramps, be unable to sleep and sufier possible dislocation.

One solution to this problem is illustrated in my prior U.S. application Ser. No. 612,872, filed Jan. 31, 1967, wherein the shoe is rigidly clamped to a free splint plate at a predetermined angle with the edges of the plate so that the feet always are kept to this angle regardless of how the child sleeps. However the angle of correction in this application can only be varied by prescribing a new pair of shoes should more or less correction be required and additionally as new pairs of shoes are required quite often for growing children this results in considerable expense.

With the shoes of the present invention the angle of correction to which the feet are urged by the shoe and attached plate can be easily varied by the attending physician, in response to the degree of therapy required to correct the condition under treatment.

In addition the plate can be removed from the shoe quite readily and larger or different types of shoes fitted, or the plate left off entirely as desired.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the present invention a therapeutic shoe for children is provided which is useful in the treatment of mild to moderate internal tibial torsion, increased rotaton of the hips and maintenance of correction after the use of casts, splints and braces, for severe internal tibial torsion and severe internal rotation of the hips.

In accordance with the present invention, also, a therapeutic shoe for children is provided which is simple in treatment of mild to moderate external tibial and mild to moderate increased internal rotation of the hips and ice maintenance of correction of these conditions after the use of casts, splints and braces.

In accordance with the present invention a therapeutic shoe for children is provided wherein the degree of correction may be varied to suit changing requirements of therapy.

In accordance with the present invention a therapeutic shoe for children is provided wherein the type of shoe used with the splint plate may be changed if desired.

In accordance with the present invention a therapeutic shoe for children is provided wherein the shoe may be detached from the splint plate if desired.

In accordance with the present invention, also, a therapuetic shoe for children is provided which is simple in construction and easy to use.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims.

Brief description of the drawing The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of one shoe of a pair of childrens shoes in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, enlarged, taken approximately on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse horizontal sectional viev, taken approximately on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; an

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the invention.

It should, of course, be understood that the description and drawings herein are illustrative merely, and that various modifications and changes can be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Description of the preferred embodiments The therapeutic shoe of the present invention includes a shoe, right and left as desired, and of a size to suit the child, the shoe being provided with an exteriorly disposed splint plate parallel to the sole of the shoe and detachably and adjustably secured thereto. The plate has opposite active edges at the rear and at the front, one of which is effective when the child is on its back and the other of which is effective when the child is on its stomach. The actve edges, depending on which serves as a support, urge the foot to a predetermined position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is-illustrated, a shoe 10 is provided which includes an upper 11 of any desired type with an outsole 12. A shoe 10 for the right foot is employed for purposes of illustration, it being understood that a like shoe will also be employed for the left foot, but of opposite hand.

The shoe 10 should be of a size to suit the child and may be in the range from 000 to childrens size 12. The shoe 10 accordingly may range from that for a month old baby to a size for age 6, 7 or 8 years.

The shoe 10 may be of conventional type or may have an inflare or outflare if desired.

A splint plate 15 is provided of any suitable relatively stiff and rigid material, such as leather or synthetic plastic, the latter being preferred.

The splint plate 15 is attached to the outer face of the outsole 12 at the rear thereof as shown in FIG. 2 by a bolt 16 which extends through a hole 17 in plate 15 and is threadably engaged in a nut 18 carried in the outsole 12. The plate 15 is also attached to the outer face of the outsole 12 at a point near to the front of the shoe by a bolt 20 which is engaged by a nut 21 carried in the outsole 12. The bolt 20 rides in a channel 22 which is arcuate in shape and extends across the plate 15 of a distance so that the shoe may be moved as much as 60 about the longitudinal axis of the plate 15 to each side thereof.

The splint plate 15 has a front or toe edge 23 which is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shoe at the desired angle by loosening the bolt 20 and swinging the plate about the pivot provided by the bolt 16, with the bolt in the channel 22 to provide the desired internal rotation or external rotation, and in the range from 0 to 60 about the longitudinal axis of the plate 15 as desired by the physician.

The splint plate 15 also has a rear or heel edge 24 which can be inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shoe 10 at the desired angle, as referred to above.

The bolt 16 and the bolt 20 as shown in FIG. 2, each has a threaded shaft 25 and a knurled head 26 to permit of easy manual manipulation of the bolts for tightening or loosening and consequent ready angular displacement of the shoe about the longitudinal axis of plate 15.

If desired slotted relatively fiat headed screws 30 can be used in place of bolts 16 and 20 as illustrated in FIG. 4, and engaged in front and rear nuts 18 and 21 carried in outsole 12. The screws 30 have threaded shafts 31 and slotted heads 32 which receives a screwdriver for loosening or tightening the screw.

The rear nut 18, as illustrated in FIG. 3, may be provided with radial serrations 33 which engage the splint plate 15 tightly when the bolt 16 is tightened and resist any torsional movement about the nut 18.

For many purposes the splint plate 15 of plastic will serve to give the desired support. Where a more positive rotational action is desired the splint plate 15 may be made of heavier material such as metal or if desired a splint plate 15 of plastic may have a weighted torque applying plate (not shown) secured thereto in any de sired manner such as by an interposed adhesive layer.

In use, the shoes 10 when on the child will cause the feet to take positions as determined by the edges 23 and 24.

If the child is lying on its back the edge 24 provides a support which urges the feet to the desired predetermined position dependent on the angular displacement of the shoe with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plate 15. Similarly, if the child is placed on its stomach the edge 23 will provide a support for the feet which urges the feet to positions determined by the angular position of the shoe 10 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the plate 15.

It will thus be seen that structure has been provided to attain the objects of the invention.

I claim: 1. A therapeutic shoe having a sole, and a splint plate member carried by said sole in parallel relation thereto, said splint plate member having a straight rear marginal support edge and a straight front marginal support edge, outwardly beyond said sole, and members adjustably mounting said plate member to said sole for disposition of said plate member at a rotational angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the sole to dispose said support edges for positive support of the shoe by one of said edges at a predetermined and selected angular position. 2. A therapeutic shoe as defined in claim 1 in which said splint plate is attached to said sole by a front and a rear bolt. 3. A therapeutic shoe as defined in claim 1 in which said splint plate has an arcuate channel for movement of said plate with respect to one of said bolts to determine the angular disposition of said support edges with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shoe. 4. A therapeutic shoe as defined in claim 3 in which said angular disposition of said front and said rear marginal edges is at a selected rotational angle from right to 60 left of the longitudinal axis of the shoe. 5. A therapeutic shoe as defined in claim 2 in which said bolts have manually operable head portions. 6. A therapeutic shoe as defined in claim 2 in which said bolts have the outer portion of their heads in close relation to said plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1961 Rice 128-581 3/1963 Hartman 36--100 

